Out of juice?

It's a scenario with which you're more familiar than you'd like to be. You're using your laptop, which of course you've taken out without the power lead - it's a portable laptop after all - and you get the red light of doom: the battery is almost dead.

"Why?!" you cry, for you've only used it for half the time the battery said it would last on the box.

Well, your trusty consumer group Which? have revealed that some of the major players in the laptop market have been quoting their battery lives at double that of what you'll actually get when using them.

Apple fans, you're in luck. Of all the makes and models tested, only the MacBook Pro lived up to its claim when put through the tests which involved surfing the net and media playback, so your normal levels of laptop activity.

That number on the box - usually an eye-catching number of hours - was probably generated using the perfect environment, optimal usage conditions and limited activity, but in truth, when you use the device 'normally' that figure goes out of the window.

BBC Tech News has the full run down, but these stats don't make particularly good reading:

Acer E15 lasted two hours, 56 minutes - claim: 6 hours.

Dell Inspiron 15 5,000 lasted three hours, 58 minutes - claim: 7

HP Pavilion 14-al115na lasted four hours, 25 minutes - claim: 9

Lenovo Yoga 510 lasted two hours, seven minutes - claim: 5

The life of your battery is clearly dependent upon what you're doing with your laptop, but these stats are definitely worth bearing in mind if it forms a crucial part of your purchasing decision - all may not be what it seems.

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